Mark and Lard
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Mark and Lard, the stage name of Mark Radcliffe (Mark) and Marc Riley (Lard), are former BBC Radio 1 disc jockeys. Mark & Lard joined Radio 1 in October 1993 and left in March 2004 allegedly after an argument with Radio 1 management about constraints on their playlist. The pair moved to Radio 1 from BBC Radio Five's evening "Hit The North" programme, where Radcliffe was presenter and Riley climbed from researcher to producer.
Mark & Lard began their Radio 1 career presenting the late-night "graveyard shift" but moved to the coveted Breakfast Show in February 1997. The pair acknowledge that the breakfast show was not their best work, and they moved to an early afternoon slot after eight months.
Their afternoon show broadcast until 2004. During this time, they refused to work at the Radio 1 studios in London (the presenters referred to the capital as 'London Village' and talked about its 'underground trams'), instead broadcasting out of BBC Radio Manchester. The Mark & Lard show was noted for its spoof features and competitions including, but not limited to:
- "Beat the Clock," In which Lard (pretending to be a caller) has to guess the title of a record. Lard would shout "stop" then make an incorrect guess, then say "carry on".
- the Rabbi Lionel Blair in a spoof of BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day (the Today programme's religious slot, which often featured the Rabbi Lionel Blue),
- "One Man And his Frog", a spoof of One Man and his Dog a BBC TV sheepdog trials programme
- "Oh Lucky You", a competition which always featured Riley impersonating an unlucky Irish caller given the chance to win prizes which once included BBC Radio 4.
One of the most memorable features was 'Fat Harry White' (Radcliffe with a voice-distorter), a thinly-disguised parody of soul singer Barry White who would spout endless double entendres. This character was so successful he was given his own CD in 1998, entitled 'Mmmmm Baby' (which was also his catchphrase) - it peaked at number 83 in the UK charts. Mark & Lard are also the creators of the spoof rock band "The Shirehorses", who released two CD albums:
- The Worst Album in the World, Ever... Ever! The title is a parody of the contemporary compilation album "Best anthems in the world.... Ever"
- Our Kid, Eh? The title is a combination of the contemporary Radiohead album 'Kid A', and the northern phrase 'our Kid'.
Catchphrases were a notable part of their show. Listeners would often call in to request a catchphrase. Catchphrases include, but are not limited to:
- Stop! ..... Carry on! Inspired by the feature 'Beat the Clock'
- Fancy a Brew?
- No Need!
- Waaaarp!
- Biggedy-biggedy-bong!
- Can ya back off tha mic a bit?!
The pair were also noted for their poorly disguised contempt for many of the playlisted records. One notable stunt was on November 23, 2001, when they played a track by the Sugababes five times in a row, at least partly in order to see if anyone would even notice. Mark also had a tendency to follow-up some records with a "rubbish!" or "dreadful!" before pretending he'd be talking about something unrelated (eg "Rubbish!... There's a lot of rubbish outside the studio, Marc", or "Dire!...I was just wondering what Kieron Dyer [current Newcastle United FC football player] is up to").
In February 2004 the pair announced their resignation from Radio 1, with Radcliffe moving to BBC Radio 2 and Riley moving to BBC 6 Music. Their last show was broadcast on March 26, 2004. At the end of their last show, they had time for a swift half a catchphrase: "Stop" (the full catchphrase being "Stop! ...... Carry on!)
| Preceded by Chris Evans |
BBC Radio One Breakfast Show Presenter 1997 |
Succeeded by Kevin Greening and Zoe Ball |
